Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor
by FlamingSwans
Summary: A collection of fluffy mini-fics revolving around Regina and Henry in cursed Storybrooke, before Emma ever came to town.
1. First Time, Homework Help, Adoption

_**This fanfiction is dedicated to Raye,**_

_**the bestest internet buddy ever**_

_**because we feel emotions and such**_

_**~ouat~**_

**Part One: There's A First Time For Everything**

It was a month before Henry's first birthday. Regina sat on her knees four feet in front of him, arms outstretched to grab him. Henry stood, holding onto the coffee table for balance, staring intensely at her.

"Come on, sweetie! You can do it!" she encouraged, as Henry gnawed on his teething ring.

Regina had been trying to get him to walk for about a week, but had yet to make any progress. Henry averted his attention from his mother to begin hammering his teething ring on the table, babbling and shrieking happily at the loud sound it made.

Regina sighed, hauling herself off of the living room carpet and sitting elegantly in an armchair to watch him.

_He's almost one, _she thought sadly. _He's gotten so big so fast._

Henry, losing interest in drumming with his toys, plopped down on the floor roughly and began crawling towards Regina. She grinned.

She gently gripped him under his arms and pulled him into her lap. His white onesie was stained with applesauce and covered in drool, but Regina ignored it.

"What have you got there?" She asked, in a high voice. She took the little plastic covered board book from his hand. Henry looked at her, waiting.

"'Jamberry', huh?"

He squealed excitedly.

Regina smiled, shifted him on her lap and began reading. "_One berry, Two berry..."_

~Once Upon A Time~

"..._Looking for berries, berries for jam._" Regina finished the story by kissing the top of Henry's peachfuzzed head.

He yawned, long and loud. He leaned back into her chest, his eyes fluttering closed.

Regina looked at the clock. _8:15 pm._

"Looks like it's past somebody's bedtime." She said, lifting him into her arms and carrying him up the stairs.

She nudged his bedroom door open with her foot, eying the crib in the center of the room.

"Alright, big boy. Time for sleep." Regina told him, slowly placing him into his crib. She covered him with his soft blue blanket.

He cooed quietly, wrapping his fingers around hers.

She couldn't hold back her smile before she leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I love you, Henry." she whispered.

"Love Momma" Henry said.

His first words.

Tears formed in her eyes and she kissed his forehead again. "I love you more."

Then she turned, flicked off the light and closed the door behind her.

_**~ouat~**_

**Part Two: Homework Help**

Henry sat at the table, unzipping his backpack with his mother sitting next to him. He opened his blue folder with a picture of Tow Mater on the cover and pulled out a sheet of paper. Henry sat it on the table and continued searching through his bag until he found his small plastic box full of crayons and pencils.

"Mrs. Potts said I'm supposed to do this worksheet." Henry said simply, beginning to write his name slowly and carefully at the top of the paper. Regina watched silently as he wrote, smiling at the fact that he formed his letters much too big and wrote the 'i' in "Mills" by drawing a circle and putting a line underneath it. She'd have to remember these times, because once he was all grown up, perhaps even with a family of his own, this was all she'd be able to see. His tiny six-year-old hands spelling out his name – one of the only things he could spell perfectly every time – eager to succeed even this early in life.

"Do you need some help?" Regina asked, leaning over him as he tried to count the frogs on the lilypad that had been illustrated for him.

"No, I can do it!" Henry assured her, although he honestly was still having trouble counting any higher than the number eleven.

"Are you sure?" She questioned again. Regina knew he was too proud to admit to needing his Mommy's help. Then, she had an idea.

"How about a snack, then?" She asked, heading towards the kitchen door.

Henry looked up from his paper and nodded his head vigorously. "Yes, please."

Regina smiled and dug through her pantry until she found a small box of animal crackers. She snagged a bowl from her cupboard and headed back into the dining room.

"How many do you want?" She asked him innocently. She put the bowl in front of him and started counting out the crackers. "One, two, three, four.." Regina smiled as she continued. "...ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Is that enough?"

Henry nodded. "Yes, thank you Mommy!" Now that he had been involuntarily hinted, he scribbled down the correct answers and put his worksheet back in his folder.

"Of course, sweetheart." Regina beamed, kissing the top of his head.

**~ouat~**

**Part Three: Adoption**

One day, when Regina was picking up Henry from the bus stop, he seemed distracted. When she smiled at him and knelt down to give him a hug, as she usually did, he turned and instead headed straight for their house.

Regina hurried after him, narrowly avoiding a door-face collision as Henry marched through the foyer and up the stairs to his bedroom.

"Henry!" His mother said, appalled by his behavior. She shut his door behind her and sat gently at the foot of his bed. Henry didn't meet her gaze, rather hugging his backpack to his chest and staring out the window as if it had done something wrong.

"What do you want?" He grumbled angrily.

"Why are you being so rude, Henry?" Regina asked, reaching to touch his face. Henry shook his head and batted her hand away.

"Ryder and Alice told me what you did!" He yelled, finally looking at her, tears forming in his eyes.

Regina was shocked. _Surely those children didn't remember their former lives! _She thought. _And Henry wouldn't just believe them without proof, which they certainly had none of._

The mayor straightened. "Henry, you-"

"Why did you steal me?" He interrupted, tossing his backpack on the floor.

"What? Henry, I didn't steal you! What are you talking about?" Regina questioned, somewhat relieved that he didn't know about her past.

"Yes you do!" Henry was crying now, leaning back into his pillow for support. "You stole me from my real Mommy and Daddy!"

_Oh, no. _This was almost worse than him knowing of magic. "Oh, no Henry, you don't understand. I didn't steal you!"

"Yes you did!" He stated matter-of-factly. "You stole me from my real parents and that's why I don't have a Daddy and that's why you hide things! Ryder's mom was talking and said you weren't my real Mommy. So did Alice."

Regina set aside a mental note to gut that woman like a fish and sighed. "Oh, no, sweetheart that's not what she meant." She scooted closer to him, but he tried to back away and hit his back on the headboard of his bed.

"Do you know what adoption is?" She asked quietly and calmly, looking into his eyes.

"Like...when you adopt a puppy?" He sniffed.

"Yeah, like that. When you adopt a puppy you promise to take care of it and love it with all your heart." Regina breathed in deeply. "You're adopted, baby."

"What?" Henry was confused. "You mean you got me from a pet store?"

She chuckled. "Not exactly. Come here." Regina gestured for him to sit next to her. He hesitantly did. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders.

"When you were born, your parents gave you up for adoption. They couldn't take care of you, so they gave you to me so make sure you were okay and safe." She explained simply.

"But..but why couldn't they take care of me? Where are they now?" Henry asked, looking up at Regina.

"Well, I don't know exactly." She couldn't just say _'they didn't want you', _because, for one, she wasn't certain that was their reason, and second, because she knew that that information would break his heart. "Maybe they just didn't have enough money to buy you food and clothes. And I don't know where they are, or who they are."

"Oh." Henry seemed to understand. "Well, can I find them?"

_How the hell am I supposed to answer that? _Regina thought. "Maybe. When you're older."

Henry lit up. "Like when I'm eight? Can we go on my birthday?" He asked so excitedly, it made Regina sad.

"Well, no. Maybe when you're eighteen. Or twenty." She responded, pulling him closer.

"But that's so far away!" He whined.

"Oh, trust me sweetheart." She pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "It'll come sooner than you'd think."

Note: This story is unbeta'd so any mistakes are obviously unintentional. I'm glad you've taken the time to read this, and I hope you enjoyed it! I may update it in the future, but I don't have a particular writing schedule so it may be a while.

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time, nor am I associated with any copyright holders or other business sharers of this entertainment product. This is purely for my own enjoyment and I am not receiving any profit from this work.


	2. Injuries, Presents, The Talk

**Yo reader peeps who are awesome! Sorry this took so long. Me and my buddy Raye (guys-what-if-its-maybelline) have been working on a fic together and it's awesome and I can't wait for you guys to read it! But for now, here's chapter two.**

**~ouat~**

**Part One: Injuries**

"Moooom!" Little five-year-old Henry Mills called out, hobbling through the door with one hand covering his knee.

Regina turned to him, noticing that his jeans were ripped and stained slightly from blood. "Oh no, what happened?"

Henry was starting to cry and his words were muffled by his sobs and panting. "I…" He sniffed, wiping the snot and tears away with his coat sleeve. "I was on… my-my bike and I hit a r-rock and I fell and hu-hurt my knee."

"Oh, you should've been wearing your knee pads, sweetie!" Regina pulled him close to comfort him. His chest heaved as he tried to breathe through his tears."Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

"Can I u-use the racecar icepack?" Henry sniffed as his sobs slowly began to disperse.

She chuckled slightly. Only Henry would think about something like that after being hurt. "Of course, baby."

Regina led him into the kitchen and grabbed the first aid kit. As she set it on the counter, his small voice was barely audible as he whispered "Thank you, Mommy."

**~ouat~**

**Part Two: I Made You A Present**

"Mommy!" Henry called to her as he hopped off the bus. "Mommy, guess what!"

Regina chuckled and hugged him, noting that he had gotten taller seemingly overnight. "What?" She coughed as she said it. She fanned her face from the exhaust spewing from the prehistoric school bus.

"I made you a present at school today." He looked up at her with big eyes. Henry had recently lost one of his front teeth, and it made his grin quite possibly the most adorable thing ever.

"Oh, did you now? What is it?" Regina smiled. She gently rested her hand on his back and they both started walking towards their large house.

"Is a secret" He smirked, his small lisp masking the 't' in "it's". "You can see it on Monday, Mrs. Potts said it gots to dry first."

"Oh, can I guess what it is then?" Regina asked playfully, opening the door and leading him inside.

"Okay!" Henry offered. He loved guessing games and it made him feel superior to know a secret that his mother didn't.

"Well then, let's see..." They both sat at the dining table, as was the routine. Henry began pulling out his homework as he usually did, but kept his eyes fixed on Regina, awaiting her first guess. "Did you paint something?"

"No, I gots to paint it on Monday." He answered.

"So it's something you have to paint, huh?" She deduced. Henry blushed slightly upon realizing his slip. "Hmm, is it a statue?"

Henry giggled boyishly. "Nope!"

"Is it a birdhouse?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Is it a dog?"

"What? That's silly Mommy, you don't paint a dog!" Henry stated

"Well, I give up. What is it?" She surrendered.

"I can't tell you, iz a secret." He put a finger to his lips, emphasizing he confidentiality of her present.

"Alright, I'll find out on Monday." Regina leaned over and kissed his forehead. "Get started on your homework, honey. I'll get you a snack."

"Hey, sweetheart, how was school?" Regina asked Henry as he stepped off the bus that Monday afternoon.

"It was fun, except Dylan and me had a sand fight and I azidently ate some." Regina couldn't help but laugh at how he pronounced the word "accidentally".

"Henry, you shouldn't have sand fights." She leaned down to look at him as she said this. "Somebody could get hurt,"

Regina mumbled, "Or end up with sand in their mouth."

"Oh, Mommy! I fergots that I got you a present!" He knelt down on the sidewalk and began rummaging through his backpack.

She grinned at him as he pulled a large, vaguely round disk wrapped in navy blue tissue paper. Regina gently took it from him, his eyes lighting up.

"Open it!" Henry encouraged, nearly bouncing up and down.

Smiling, she pulled back the tissue paper to reveal a crudely formed circle of plaster. It had been painted red, messily, she could tell, by Henry. But right in the middle was the clear outline of a hand. Henry's little seven-year-old handprint immortalized in plaster. Tears formed in her eyes as she read the words carved into it, in his neat, all-capital letters... the words "For Mommy".

Henry saw the tears welling up in Regina's eyes. "Mommy? Mommy, why are you crying? Did I make you sad?"

She looked up from his art project and stared at him. "No, no, of course not. I love it. Thank you so much, Henry."

He smiled and hugged her. "You're welcome."

**~ouat~**

**Part Three: The Talk**

Regina strode regally through the halls of Storybrooke Elementary, her high heels echoing through the empty corridors as she searched for her son's classroom. She definitely had dreaded this year, Henry moving into the fourth grade and into_ that woman's_ classroom. Unfortunately, there were only two fourth grade teachers in town, and while one was her archenemy, the other was a psychotic woman who was out on maternity leave, like she had been for...twenty-seven years? Damn curse.

Finally reaching room 154, Regina rudely swung the door open and all eyes turned to her. Mary Margaret Blanchard stood at the front of the room, chalk in hand. "Mayor Mills! Has something happened?" the teacher asked, glancing from the mayor, to her class, to Henry, who slumped down in his seat. His cheeks were bright red after seeing his mother's dramatic entrance.

"No, I've come to pick up my son. He has a doctor's appointment." Regina stated, gesturing to Henry to collect his things.

"W-Well, you need to check him out at the office, first M-Mayor Mills." Mary Margaret stuttered. Honestly, this whole shy, delicate schoolteacher act was not becoming of her.

Regina raised her eyebrow a fraction of an inch. Henry silently hefted his backpack onto his shoulders and moved to stand next to his mother.

Ms. Blanchard saw the eyebrow raising as a threat and nearly shrieked, "O-or I can call the office, no problem. Have a nice day, Henry!" She sat down behind her desk and picked up the landline, dialing quickly as mother and son exited the room. Henry could hear his classmates chattering about him as he walked away.

"Alright, kiddo! Let's have a look!" Dr. Whale said cheerfully, pressing down on Henry's tongue and shining a light into his mouth.

Henry made a loud "Aaaahhh" sound and Regina sat bored in the corner. _For God's sake, how long is this going to take? _She thought. _Henry's obviously perfectly healthy! And why in hell is Whale doing his check-up? Isn't there another doctor in this damn hospital? I don't want my son being poked and prodded by a doctor who specializes in the dead!_

"Alright, Mayor Mills, I'll have to ask you to step outside."

Regina blinked. "What?"

Whale looked at her. "I said 'I'll have to ask you to step outside.'"

The mayor narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Well, I need to have a private discussion with Henry, and I don't think he'd be comfortable having his mother here." The doctor said carefully, eyes shifting almost awkwardly from Henry to Regina.

Her mind raced to figure out what he was saying, before realizing his meaning. She nodded and grabbed her purse to leave.

Regina leaned her head back against the wall impatiently, her nerves rocketing all over the place. She heard the sound of a door being shut too enthusiastically. Suddenly, a woman in her late thirties burst into the waiting room, plopping down two seats beside the mayor.

Regina fingered a parenting magazine on the table beside her in an effort to avoid having to participate in a conversation. Her efforts failed, as the woman was quite a chatter.

"Do you have kids?"

Regina turned. The woman was staring at her.

The mayor answered, since the question was obviously aimed toward her."Yes. My son's in there." She pointed at the door that joined the waiting room and the patient rooms.

"Oh, you have a boy. Lucky. My daughter's fifteen." The woman stated.

"Ah." Regina nodded once and looked away, believing the conversation to be over. She was wrong.

"How old is yours?" The woman sighed. Regina simply looked at her. Who was this stranger, why was she asking these questions?

"He's almost ten." Regina answered, hesitantly.

"Oh, fun!" The woman chuckled like 'oh, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into.' "About the age where he starts realizing that girls don't have cooties and asks questions about anatomy!"

Regina opened her mouth to speak, but her thought was cut off by Doctor Whale popping his head out the door. "Mayor Mills, you can come back now."

Regina thought about that woman's words. Henry would be ten in less than two months. Maybe she needed to have "the talk" with him. God knows what would happen if he found out about...it...later on.

As they pulled into the driveway of their large home, she looked to her son. He was still so small to her, but he had grown up so much.

"Henry?" Regina said as he opened the passenger door.

"Yeah?" Henry turned to her.

"I think it's time I had a discussion with you." She said carefully, stroking the steering wheel of her car, searching for the words.

"What about?" Henry asked nervously, mind searching for anything he would get in trouble for.

"Do...do you know...where...what...ummm..." Regina stumbled over her words. Why was this so awkward?

Henry was confused. "Huh?"

Suddenly, there was the sound of another car pulling up behind them, and the mayor was relieved to see the sheriff's car in her rear-view mirror.

"One moment, sweetheart. Go inside, I'll be there in a minute." Regina said, unbuckling her seatbelt and exiting the car.

"Ohh-kay?" Henry agreed wearily, as he did as he was told.

"Hello, Sheriff. " The mayor greeted. Graham grinned, tilting his head slightly to the side to shield his face from the midday sun.

"Madame Mayor." He replied, leaning gently against his car door. "I wanted to have a word with you, I saw you driving up."

"Oh, that's great. But first, I need you to do me a favor." She was almost whispering.

The Irishman raised an eyebrow. "And...what would that be?"

"I need you to talk to Henry for me," said Regina. "because I think it might be easier hearing it from you than from me."

"Oh, of course, no problem. What trouble's the lad gotten into now?"Graham inquired, straightening his shoulders.

"Well, you see... I think it's time to give him," Regina nearly winced as she said it, "'the talk.'"

"Aahhh." The Sheriff coughed, but said nothing as he headed for the front door. He stopped on the doormat, Regina nearly ran into him at the abrupt pause.

"How..." Graham coughed again. "How do you want me to tell him?"

"I have no idea." She was whispering for certain now. "Just tell him!"

"Alright!" He hissed, pushing through the door, up the stairs and towards where he remembered Henry's bedroom to be.

Graham, confidence slim and slowly thinning, knocked on the open door, slowly pushing it open.

"Hi, Sheriff." Henry greeted, looking up momentarily from the book he was reading.

"Hello, lad." Graham hesitantly moved to sit next to Henry on his bed. "Your mother wanted me to talk to you about something."

"About what?" Henry shut his book, looking up at the sheriff.

"Well, about grown up things," Graham cleared his throat, feeling it tighten slightly as the awkwardness of the conversation dawned on him. "for us men. A - and for women, too, just – gah, no, I meant - "

"Umm, Sheriff? You look like you're gonna be sick." The little boy stated. It was true.

"Yes, lad, I mean, no I'm fine. This, this isn't something I planned on doing, I mean discussing, at least not for a long while..."

"Sheriff Graham, maybe you should take a nap, or else I think you're gonna throw up." Henry advised.

Regina, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, lost all patience she had left. She stood up, dusted off her coat, strode into the room and looked at both males.

"Henry," She breathed. "what we're trying to tell you is, well, where babies come from."

"Oh, that?" Henry wrinkled his nose. "Yuck, Dr. Whale already told me. It's weird."

Regina nearly dropped to the floor. "He did?"

"Uh-huh. When he told you to leave. He said that babies are made of -"

"Yes, we know, dear." Regina stopped him from explaining. "I didn't think we would tell you such a thing, at least not without letting me know, first." She pinched the bridge of her nose, a headache already having formed.

Graham just sat on Henry's bed, running a hand through his hair, relieved that the situation had been resolved.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I should have told you that I already knew." Henry said, brushing off the entire conversation and leaning back to resume his reading.

"Alright then. I suppose...I'll go make lunch, then." Regina groaned as she exited his room.

That damn doctor.

**~ouat~**

**JSYK I love all you readers and your reviews light up my life!**


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